News

20 physicians in training present original research at 2nd annual HOD poster presentation

December 03, 2017

The California Medical Association (CMA) and Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations (NEPO) jointly hosted the second annual poster session to showcase research by medical students, residents and fellows across California. This year’s poster session was a huge success, with 20 posters selected for the presentation—twice the number of last year’s competition.

The research was well received by all, and we hope that this will become a permanent fixture at future meetings and encourage more future physicians to take an active role within CMA. The amazing quality of the research is evidenced by the fact that the judges selected six winning presentations this year (see full list below)!

One of the winners in the clinical research category was a second-year medical student from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) School of Medicine, Michelle Epps. Epps did her research on provider knowledge of celiac disease and how physicians can improve disease diagnosis in high-risk populations. “After reviewing the existing literature, it became so evident that there is this huge deficit in provider knowledge about screening and diagnosing celiac disease,” Epps said. “Current research suggests that over 80 percent of individuals with celiac disease are either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed and, consequently, are at higher risk for clinical complications. As providers, we need to do a better job at identifying these individuals.”

Another winner, UCLA third-year medical student Anthony Bui, presented research on police violence and its racial underpinning in the United States. “Providing objective evidence to public health issues is critical to informing honest and fair health policymaking,” said Bui. “Collaborating with colleagues of mine at Harvard and Berkeley, we aimed to provide more evidence that could inform the need for policy change and resource allocation focused on reducing deaths related to police violence.”

UCR medical student Marissa Fox was also recognized for her research on how resident-centered education intervention can improve physicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward providing care to transgender patients. “The lack of adequate transgender education for medical students and residents contributes to the barriers that transgender patients face when attempting to access a provider that is knowledgeable about their care,” said Fox. “It is my hope that we can improve physician knowledge, comfort and awareness in dealing with transgender patients, with the ultimate goal of improving the health outcomes in this marginalized population.”

Briga Mullin, UC Irvine School of Medicine, MS-2: "Feasibility of facilitating doctor-patient communication for underserved Latino patients with type 2 diabetes through utilization of a list of questions"

Anderson Nguyen, UC Irvine School of Medicine, MS-2: "Assessing the factors that contribute to nutrition and childhood obesity issues in Watts community of South Los Angeles"

Angelina Nieto-Rodriguez, USC Keck School of Medicine, MS-4: "Obstacles and limitations in group diabetes management education visits among Hispanic patients"